The cheap money era is over, and how IKI by HOPE CORP chooses to grow from real value

This morning, an in-depth interview with Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai (Member of the Board of Directors, HOPE CORP) went live on TechNode Global (TNGlobal).

For startups and venture capital funds, TechNode is not an ordinary mass-media site. It was once TechCrunch's exclusive partner in Asia, and it is a demanding reference that technology leaders and investors from Singapore, the US, China and beyond follow every day to find companies with real substance.

In an interview that takes a macro view of the economy and capital flows, HOPE Iki Healing (part of the HOPE CORP ecosystem) is mentioned only as a brief example. Still, being chosen by Mr. Hai as a case study carries real weight.

Small as that mention is, it shows that our company has enough substance and appeal to be cited on an international platform. It is the strongest affirmation of the path our team has stayed committed to.

Mr. Hai said something that touches the exact pain point of today's digital economy:

"The cheap money era is over, and startups must live on their customers' money, not their investors' money."

Looking back on the journey of building IKI, I am proud that we were never drawn into the illusion of burning cash for empty growth.

1. Real gold fears no fire: when the market gets cleaned up

When mentioning HOPE Iki Healing on TechNode, Mr. Hai used us as a typical example of a business that benefits from tighter state regulation.

In truth, there were periods when genuine product makers like us struggled badly. The market was flooded with counterfeit and low-quality goods pushed by inflated, rock-bottom-price advertising, eroding consumer trust. But we stayed on the hard road: investing in R&D, standardizing our plant-based ingredient sources, being transparent on legal matters, and carefully crafting every design, through to our herbal teas and plant protein.

The results of 2026 have proven it: as rules on tax, invoicing and intellectual property tightened, many opportunistic businesses had to close. Customers naturally came back to reputable companies. Strict regulation is not a barrier; it is a shield that protects startups doing real work and creating real value.

2. No piecemeal business: building the IKI Beauty & Wellness ecosystem

The "back to basics" mindset Mr. Hai talks about is the guiding principle of how we operate. But "basics" here does not mean a piecemeal, patched-together business, or retailing a few trend-chasing products.

The vision HOPE CORP is putting everything into is a comprehensive health and beauty care ecosystem for women and families: IKI Beauty & Wellness. We are building a real industrial platform, where high-quality physical products are tightly connected to core technology.

To keep that large machine running smoothly in a time of tight capital, we use AI to the fullest. Where Mr. Hai, as an investor, uses AI to score pitch decks and save 80% of the time, I, as an operator, use AI (backed by resources from Anthropic's Claude Startups program) to optimize our entire operation. Instead of growing manual headcount, AI agents automate workflows, process CRM data and optimize our distribution system.

Capital raised will be leverage to accelerate the scale-up of this ecosystem. But even if the capital market freezes, the IKI Beauty & Wellness platform keeps running lean and healthy on fresh cash flow from the customers who trust our products.

3. The grit of a business builder

Jensen Huang once wished young people plenty of pain and setbacks. Indeed, today's "expensive money era" is a harsh turn, a cold snowstorm that every startup has to push its bike through. But as long as we keep going, avoid piecemeal business, focus on building an ecosystem of real value and optimize with technology, the warm sunlight of trust from customers and strategic investors will surely come.

Thank you, Mr. Hai and everyone on the Board, for holding the oars steady, for the sharp strategic direction, and for walking with IKI on the road to building a genuine health ecosystem with international reach.

Read the full interview on TNGlobal: Cheap money era is over: Vietnam startups must go back to basics